Word on Puja peace; Bimal Gurung writes to chief Mamata in Nepali

– Gurung announces cultural fest in OctoberVIVEK CHHETRIBimal Gurung (right) and GTA executive sabha member Binay Tamang at the meeting with leaders of hill communities in Darjeeling on Thursday. Picture by Suman Tamang

Darjeeling, Sept. 11: Bimal Gurung today promised a peaceful Puja season across the Darjeeling hills this year as he unveiled plans for a month-long extravaganza to showcase the region’s rich cultural heritage.

The GTA chief executive said the tourists and local people alike “will not be disturbed” during the festive season.

“The movement (for Gorkhaland) will be a technical one. None will be disturbed by this movement. I have seen the door (to Gorkhaland) and I will go and take up the issue there. This unpaar (illiterate) Bimal Gurung will show whether he can do something concrete for the hill community,” Gurung told leaders of different hill communities who had been invited for a discussion on the cultural festival.

Tourism is the mainstay of the hill economy and Gurung’s promise is expected to be music to visitors’ ears. About 3.5 lakh domestic tourists and 40,000 foreigners visit the hills annually on an average. The Puja season in 2013 was badly affected with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha organising a 34-day general strike from July-end to September first week.

Even though the Puja season usually starts in October, the strife in September last year drove the tourists away from the hills.

To make the stay more fun-filled for the tourists this year, the GTA has decided to organise the Darjeeling Cultural and Tourism Festival during the October-November period. In previous years, the GTA used to organise Darjeeling Tea and Tourism Festival across the hills in December. This year, the festival has been given a new name.

“The cultural and tourism festival will start in Darjeeling from October 8 and will carry on till November 7. In Kalimpong, the festival will be held between October 9 and 26, while in Kurseong, it will be between October 10 and 19. The Mirik-leg of the fest will be organised from October 11 to 20,” said Gurung.

The hill leader said the focus of the festival would be to highlight the rich culture of the hill people. “We request every community to showcase its culture during the festival. Earlier, too, I had requested people to wear traditional dresses for a month. I was not trying to be a dictator but was only trying to safeguard our culture and show the rest of the country that we are different from Bengal. It was also an effort to ensure that the hill people are not divided on different caste lines,” said Gurung.

Gurung today asked Morcha leaders and supporters not to interfere in the organisation of the cultural festival. “Our leaders and supporters should not come to the forefront. Let those who are organising the event carry on with the festival without any interference. Also, do not raise funds for the festival. The GTA will provide all possible support,” said Gurung.

The Darjeeling Tea and Tourism festival used to be organised jointly by the GTA, state government and the residents of Darjeeling. This year, the cultural and tourist festival will be organised jointly by the information and cultural affairs department and the tourism department of the GTA.

Kanyashree scheme:Bimal shoots Nepali letter to Mamata

Darjeeling, 11 September: The chief executive of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), Bimal Gurung, today wrote a letter to chief minister Mamata Banerjee in the Nepali language, informing her that the state government has been interfering in the Kanyashree Prakalpa scheme for girl students in the GTA areas. “Though the Kanyashree Prakalpa is a subject that has been to the GTA, the state government has intervened in its implementation in areas under the GTA,” the letter reads, according to a source.

Mr Gurung had recently declared that he would use the Nepali language ‘officially’ in offices of the GTA.

Marking the day the language received official recognition, he had also said that the language would be used in any official correspondence with the state government. Today’s letter signed by Mr Gurung has already been forwarded to the chief minister’s office in Kolkata.

A copy of the letter in the English language has also been sent to the CM though. “The state should also implement the use of Nepali language in state offices,” Mr Gurung told a programme here today.

“If they (state government) do not understand the words in the letter, they should hire a translator. The correspondence with them will be done in Nepali from now onwards,” he added. During her earlier visit to the Hills, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had directed the district magistrate to take forward the scheme effectively in the GTA areas.

Kanyashree Prakalpa is a scheme under the state department of Women Development and Social Welfare, which according to its guidelines, says is “a conditional cash transfer scheme with the aim of improving the status and well being of the girl child in West Bengal by increasing the enrollment rate of girls in secondary education or vocational/sports training, and simultaneously encouraging the delay of marriages of girls until they reach the age of 18.”

The guideline clearly states: “For the district of Darjeeling, there will be two district project management units, one for GTA and the other for non-GTA areas. The former will be established under the office of Principal Secretary of the GTA and the latter under the office of the District Magistrate, Darjeeling.”

Gurung writes to chief Mamata in Nepali

Darjeeling, 11 Sep 2014: As part of his efforts to popularise the use of the Nepali language in official work, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration chief executive Bimal Gurung has written a letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Nepali, although a communication in English has also been sent on the same context.

The letter exhorts her to implement the Kanyashree Scheme for school girls in the hills throughout the GTA. “Nepali is recognized in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution and is among the official languages of the country. We must not shy away from using it as it bulwarks our identity,” said Gurung today in Darjeeling after an official meeting of the GTA.

During a programme to mark Bhasa Diwas on August 20, the GTA chief executive had officially announced the use of Nepali (for making official documents) in the new council and this is being followed faithfully. He had also announced of setting-up a Nepali Academy in the hills to preserve and promote local culture and tradition.

Although Gurung did not elaborate much on the written communication in Nepali, sources said the correspondence mentions implementing the Kanyashree Scheme throughout the hills.

“We do not have problems with the scheme as it is beneficial to people, especially school-going girls. However, as the GTA is the governing body of the hills, the scheme should be implemented by it,” one of the sources said.

During today’s meeting in Darjeeling with GTA officials and various cultural organisations to finalise a month-long cultural event in October, Gurung also stressed on the need for hill residents to showcase their root and identity by wearing traditional attire.

“I had asked the people to don their traditional dresses a few years ago, which did not go down well. But people want to wear them now. Hence, I appeal to one and all to showcase their identity through their traditional dresses. I myself wear the Nepali dress in official events not only here but also in Kolkata and Delhi, as I represent the Gorkha community,” he said.

During the second round of statehood agitation in 2009, Gurung, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president, had issued a diktat mandating men to wear the daura suruwal and women the chowbandi cholo. The diktat was an effort to show the hill people were different from the rest of Bengal. However, mass resentment forced Gurung to call off this idea.

“It will look proper if people wear their traditional dresses during the Puja festivities in October as a huge number of tourists will be flocking to the hills,” he said, adding he would try to invite ministers for the month-long event.

It was also decided that the October cultural event would be called the Cultural and Tourism Festival (CTF) instead of Darjeeling Tea and Tourism Festival (DTTF) as was the case earlier. The event will kick-start from October 8.

“We decided to change the name of the event to make it relevant with our aim. The event will highlight our rich culture and tradition and instill the difference in our identity to tourists,” said GJM assistant general secretary Binay Tamang, who is also a GTA executive member.

The event will be organised from October 8 to November 7 in Darjeeling, Kalimpong will host it from October 9 to 26, Kurseong sub-division will celebrate it from October 10 to 19, while Mirik will host it from October 11 to 20. [The Echo of India]

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